Influence of heat treatment on the microstructure and tensile properties of Ni-base superalloy Haynes 282

The effect of heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ni-base superalloy Haynes 282 was investigated. Applying a standard two-step ageing (1010 °C/2 h +788 °C/8 h) to the as-received, mill-annealed, material resulted in a the presence of discrete grain boundary carbides and finely dispersed intragranular γ′, with an average size of 43 nm. This condition showed excellent room temperature strength and ductility. The introduction of an additional solution treatment at 1120 °C resulted in grain growth, interconnected grain boundary carbides and coarse (100 nm) intragranular γ′. The coarser γ′ led to a significant reduction in the strength level, and the interconnected carbides resulted in quasi-brittle fracture with a 50% reduction in ductility. Reducing the temperature of the stabilization step to 996 °C during ageing of the mill-annealed material produced a bi-modal γ′ distribution, and grain boundaries decorated by discrete carbides accompanied by γ′. This condition showed very similar strength and ductility levels as the standard ageing of mill-annealed material. This is promising since both grain boundary γ′ and a bi-modal intragranular γ′ distribution can be used to tailor the mechanical properties to suit specific applications. The yield strength of all three conditions could be accurately predicted by a unified precipitation strengthening model.